


A Precious Gift

by afteriwake



Series: Stuff Of Improbable Legends [70]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), The Originals (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Brother-Sister Relationships, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Male-Female Friendship, Parent-Child Relationship, Parenthood, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-06-01 18:02:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6530344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James knows how all the weird crap works. He's grown up with it his entire life. And he knows when midnight, June 1st hits, the one person he wanted to stay from the whole mess of the month of May is going to be gone. But <i>sometimes</i> the weirdness in New Orleans can surprise even the most jaded and cynical of its residents...</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Precious Gift

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sideofrawr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sideofrawr/gifts).



> So this is the first fic in the series that takes place with completely next gen characters, ie the grown versions of children of the fictional characters in game. In this particular fic, we have the McCoy siblings, Olivia and James, and their friend Emalyn Mikaelson. This particular fic is taking place at the tail end of what is going to be our May plot, our "unwanted characters" plot, and James's storyline is going to be explained in more fics which I'll be writing before then (because I may be recovering from back surgery then and won't be able to participate, so we're doing this now) but basically his unwanted character is Amelia Chen, his ex-fiancee who tried to trap him into marriage by saying she was pregnant with his child right before they graduated from high school. The baby wasn't his, but he tried to adopt the girl anyway because he didn't want a woman like Amelia raising her (Amelia put the baby up for private adoption and the courts didn't allow him to adopt her, unfortunately). She showed up during the plot and had the baby here, and she's about two weeks old when this story takes place. But yes. This is the happy ending to the story!

He’d been dreading today so fucking much.

He knew the drill. Every month it seemed that there was some sort of crap going on among the displaced and their kids. Start of the month, some weird stuff would start happening. It would go on all month and then at the end of the month boom! It would all be over and then the next day something else would start. It was complete bullshit, to be honest, and he hated it all growing up.

But tonight would probably shatter his heart into a million pieces.

James didn’t even think his mom and dad had considered when they got back from wherever it was they were Desiree wouldn’t be there. They wouldn’t get a proper good-bye. So he and Livvy and Em had spent all day taking photos and videos, so that there would be some record of her. She may not have been his biological daughter but damn it, he’d wanted her for so long, even when he’d thought she might not be his, even when he knew the truth. 

And tomorrow morning she was probably going to be gone. Even though, unlike everyone else who had shown up this month, Desiree was actually wanted. She was wanted more than Amelia or his mom’s psychotic ex or Zoe’s dad. Hell, at this point he’d give up just about anything to keep her here. He’d give up going back to college and getting his law degree, he’d give up any money he could get from his parents...he just wanted his daughter because really, that’s what Desiree was. _His_ daughter.

He’d barely slept most of the week, and that was a good thing. He didn’t want to be awake when she disappeared. Livvy and Em were at the apartment, and he could have gone into the third bedroom but he just wanted to stay out on the couch. Closer to the booze he knew he was going to need when he woke up and Desiree wasn’t asleep on his chest. He got himself on the couch, careful not to wake her up and then began smoothing her hair back.

“You know,” he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, “when your mother said she was pregnant, I didn’t care about anything I had to give up. I was so excited for you. And even after everything, I was planning on trying to take care of you. If your mother hadn’t been so eager to try and hurt me, I probably could have raised you back home, if the courts would have let me. And I’m not going to get the chance now, and I’m so sorry for that.”

He felt a lump in his throat and tears prick his eyes. Damn it, this was harder than he had thought it was going to be. He ran his hand down her back. “I think I would have been a good father. I would have loved you so much. I know your grandparents and your aunt and the whole extended family would have too. And even with everything weird that goes on, I would have tried to make sure you had the best kind of life you could. I would have kept you safe, and made sure you were happy, and I would have tried to be the kind of parent my parents tried to be with me.”

He pressed a kiss to her head and then yawned before shutting his eyes. “I love you, Desiree. Wherever you go, remember that,” he said. He continued to smooth her hair back and then run it all the way down his back until his movements began to slow and his hand fell away. Soon enough he fell asleep, with his last waking thought being that at least his daughter would spend her last night in this universe being held by someone who loved her.

He didn’t know how long it was when he was brought out of his sleep by the sound of...fussiness. Infant fussiness. He started to stir and frowned. _What time is it?_ he thought to himself, starting to sit up so that he could check his watch. Knowing his luck it’d be eleven something at night and he’d have to live through watching her get taken. The more he moved the fussier Desiree got and finally she started crying. He stood up and began moving around, rubbing her back and bouncing her slightly, trying to sort out what to do.

The door to his bedroom slammed open and Em came thundering out, her eyes wide open. “James! Do you know what time it is?”

“No,” he said, yawning.

“James, it’s two eighteen in the morning,” Em said, a wide smile on her face. “Two eighteen on _June 1st_.”

It took him a minute for what she said to sink in, and then he grinned as well. “Seriously?” he said.

She nodded emphatically. “She’s going to stay! Desiree is going to stay!” She started clapping and then came and hugged both of them. “Oh my God, I’m so happy for you!”

“Yeah,” he said, pulling Desiree away slightly to look at her. “I need to check on her.”

“No no no, let Auntie Em,” Em said, reaching over and taking Desiree from him as Livvy’s bedroom door opened. “You try and get a hold of your parents, wherever they are. Livvy!”

“...and as you can hear, there’s a baby crying in the background and it’s after midnight so yeah, congrats, Mom, you’re a grandmother,” Livvy was saying as she got closer.

“Never mind, your big sis beat you to it,” Em said with a grin, holding Desiree close as James looked on.

“Whatever you and Dad are doing, check your messages and call us back, okay? I’d pretty sure you know who is gone. Hopefully. I’ll ask around and check. I’ll make sure _she’s_ gone too. But you guys spent, like, days with your granddaughter, so...come back in case this is a fluke?” Livvy continued.

“Don’t jinx it!” Em said with a gasp.

“Yeah, sis, please don’t,” James said as Desiree’s cries grew louder. “Em, give her back and _you_ make the bottle while I check her diaper, okay?”

“Okay, got it,” she said. She turned to Desiree. “Auntie Em is going to let you go now, okay, sweetie?” Then she paused. “We _so_ need to change that...”

Livvy hung up and then grinned. “I don’t know. It’s got a nice ring to it.”

“Auntie Emalyn is just so much more...”

“Of a mouthful?” Livvy said as James set Desiree on the couch and began to undress her to get to the diaper.

“I was going to say cooler,” Em said before going into the kitchen to start making a bottle. “But you’ve got a point.”

Livvy came over to her brother and looked down at her niece. “I’m really happy for you, James,” she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it. “All this weird stuff you avoided for years, and look what it did for you.”

“Yeah,” he said, grinning as he got her onesie undone to get to her diaper, undoing it and seeing she needed a new one. “Get me a diaper and her powder?”

Livvy nodded. “You know what this means, right?”

“What?” he asked.

“We have a nursery to decorate.”

He was quiet for a moment. “You don’t want me to get my own place?” he asked, looking up.

She shook her head. “Maybe when she’s a little older, if situations change. But right now, you’re going to need all the help you can get, and I’m your sister. It’s in the job description. And besides, _someone_ has to send hourly reports to Mom.”

He chuckled and reached up to squeeze her hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, guess so. I guess my plans are going to change, though.”

“Is that a bad thing, though? I mean, maybe it takes you longer to be a lawyer. So what? You’re going to be a great dad in the meantime. That’s a hell of a lot more important, and you know it.” 

He looked back down at his daughter, who had stopped fussing as much once the wet diaper had been pulled off. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”

“Good.” She squeezed his hand back and then pulled hers away. “I’ll go get the diaper and the camera, and then a cute little outfit, too. We should take a picture and post it on the boards and let everyone know she’s here to stay.

“Good idea,” he said, giving his sister one last grin before giving Desiree his undivided attention again. That was how it was going to have to be from now on; Desiree was his first priority, and he’d have to shift everything else around her: family, friends, Zoe, school...all of it. But he was pretty sure he could handle it. He’d make it work because really, the little one in front of him was totally worth it.


End file.
